Aelfric and the Cult of Saints in Late Anglo-Saxon England - Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England (Paperback)

From the hard back review: 'This saintly biographer wrote with a purpose ... Gretsch has done much to show in detail how a refashioning of images of holiness engaged the creative talents of one of the most important vernacular writers of the early Middle Ages.' Church Times
From the hardback review: 'Among the many strengths of this carefully written monograph are Gretsch's efforts to contextualise Aelfric's adaptations of his sources in relation to the English Benedictine reform movement, led by Bishop Aethelwold during the reign of King Edgar, and the military crisis of the reign of Aethelred ... it provides a rightly informative and insightful introduction to Aelfric's hagiographic oeuvre and his methods of composition, and will surely constitute an important model for further work on this prolific early medieval author.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History
From the hardback review: '... this is a wide-ranging and fascinating study, adding significantly to our understanding of Aelfric's achievement, and also, on the way, to his context within the Benedictine Reform of the later tenth century.' The Glass
'Gretsch's study of AElfric and the cult of saints offers a fascinating insight not only into AElfric's technique as a hagiographer, but also his place in the development and evolution of saints' cults and attendant hagiographies in Anglo-Saxon England. While this book is certainly concerned with AElfric, it is concerned with much more.' Medium Aevum
"This is a masterly review of these five selected vitae by a scholar who has immersed herself deeply in the literature of the tenth-century Winchester reform movement. Its greatest achievements are the unfolding, through patient analysis of sources that were or could have been available to Aelfric..., of the varying strategies employed by Aelfric to commemorate his subjects and...the reinforcement of our appreciation of the importance of Aelfric of upholding the principles of the monastic reform of Aethelwold and of pastoral response to current events. Gretsch's facility in contemporary English is superb." -Milton McC. Gatch, Union Theological Seminary, Journal of Medieval Studies